Thermal Degradation Study of Decabromodiphenyl Ether. Translating Thermo-Analytical Results into Optimal Chromatographic Conditions

Abstract This study aims to investigate the thermal degradation behavior of decabrominated diphenyl ether (BDE 209), a flame retardant (FR) which accounts for more than 90% of the total polybrominated diphenyl ethers reported for indoor dust samples collected from Eastern Romania. Simultaneous TG/DTA was applied under various heating rate and atmospheres. The results of this study showed that BDE 209 undergoes thermal degradation in a single step, regardless of the heating rate or atmosphere, with an initial degradation temperature between 297 and 330 °C, depending on the heating rate, and a partial overlapping of melting and thermal degradation in the initial stages which might suggest that the common degradation noticed for the higher brominated FRs analysis might also occur during sample preparation or during injection of the extracts in the GC systems and not necessarily during column elution. The main findings of this research were aimed at designing proper GC analytical methods for the selected halogenated contaminants.